Locked & Loaded: Mia's ploy to meet firefighters

It seems like every post I write on here is either a) a video or b) a story of some ridiculous antic or c) a tirade about sleep deprivation.  Well, true to form, I'm going to deliver on option b with a little of option c mixed in for good measure.

After what felt like months--but was really only a week and a half or so--Mia's sleeping patterns straightened out from our trip.  Yet, I've learned to cautiously tread on such statements, so to rephrase that, Mia slept really well Sunday and Monday night, as well as during the day.  Tuesday night, however, was a different story.  While she woke up sometime after midnight and seemed fairly easy to soothe back to sleep, staying asleep was the challenge.  Even after bringing her to our bed where sometimes she konks out being so close to her parents didn't work (pretty sure she thought that was a 2am playdate), she finally went down again until 6:30ish.

Feeling like a zombie after such little sleep, I really didn't expect her to stay up long for her midmorning nap, so to move things along, Mia & I took a trip to one our favorite destinations, SuperTarget.  After a moderately quick spree at Target, sped up at the end by her insistence that I hold her while I pay for the groceries at checkout, we exited the store and headed for the car.

Mia's a bit precocious.  She knows a fake cell phone from a real one, a fake laptop from a Mac, and fake kiddy keys from mommy's only set.  While we walking out to the car, to be able to steer the cart with all my stuff & Mia, I appeased her by giving her the [real] car keys to play with.  I set her in her carseat, closed her door so she wouldn't chuck the keys elsewhere, and unloaded the groceries in the trunk and then closing it.  As I was briskly walking to the driver's side door I hear * click click * and suddenly realize that Mia has most definitely locked herself in the car.

Staying calm, staying calm, I walk over to her side of the car and peek through the window and ask Mia, "Can you touch the other button?  Mia, can you press the unlock button? I need you to unlock the car!"  This doesn't really help or get the message across and Mia's sitting there a bit dumbfoundedly wondering why we're talking through this tinted glass.

About this time, a Target employee is coming out for his smoke break and notices I'm bargaining with what he assumes to be a small child.  He asks if there's someone in the car and I say, "Yes, my 16 month old daughter just locked herself in!"  He radios to the "AP" (Assets Protection), the Target Security guy who promptly contacts the county fire department.  As I'm on the phone with Greg trying to reason this out, I hear sirens almost immediately.  Yikes, they're fast!  I'm being asked, "Ma'am, is it okay if they have to break your window?"  Umm...I guess so?  I didn't even really think about that one.

A nice police officer rolls up, starts asking me what happened (which always makes you feel like a guilty, irresponsible loser) as I look in to see Mia's starting to get a bit more alarmed.  I can barely even explain what's happening when the fire department shows up and immediately surrounds the car with all their unlocking equipment.  One firefighter was trying to assess Mia through the windows and even though she was crying pretty frantically at that point, he said she was still okay.  That was sad though, to try to console your little one through a window while all these guys are trying to break into the car.

After a while, the firefighters were finally successful with opening up the lock through the window without breaking it.  Yay!!! I immediately opened Mia's door and pulled her out, with her hair all sweaty and face beading with perspiration.  I think much of that was from her own freaking out, and not necessarily from the heat of the car, but it had probably been at least 15 minutes.

After a quick visual rundown and an official report to the FD, plus some tips from the police officer, we were good to go.  Amazingly or just via plain divine intervention, my friend Leanne had pulled up in the parking lot with her 2 yr old son just as this was all going down.  So, while I was a bit mentally preoccupied with the guys arriving, trying to stay present with Mia, and explain to Greg what was happening, it was nice to have some moral support.

A few upsides:
learning the quick response time of the Pasco Fire Dept & Police Dept.
having a friend nearby, and her son to share grapes with Mia afterwards (one of her fav fruits)
Greg coming home anyway for the rest of the day
taking the hardest 1.5 hr nap I've had in quite some time later in the day
learning just one more thing to put in my arsenal / parent handbook for the rest of our lives!

... And speaking of sleep, I think I should go get some.